<p class="ingestion featured-caption">I visited the Holy Donut in Portland, Maine.Erin McDowell/Business Insider</p><ul class="summary-list"><li>I recently went behind the scenes at <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/review-the-holy-donut-in-portland-maine-best-donuts-2024-8">The Holy Donut</a>, one of the most famous doughnut shops in Maine.</li><li>The Holy Donut opened in 2012 and has grown into a local institution.</li></ul><p>Pushing through the front doors of The Holy Donut, I was greeted by the downright heavenly smell of fresh-brewed coffee and sweet icing.</p><p>It was a rainy August morning in <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/moved-from-nyc-to-portland-maine-differences-surprises-2024-7">Maine</a>, but that hadn't stopped over a dozen customers from shaking off their umbrellas and stumbling through the doughnut shop's doors to get their hands on one of its famous donuts.</p><p>The Holy Donut opened in 2012 and has since grown into a Maine institution, with five locations across the state. It makes between 6 and 7 million doughnuts each year, according to its co-owner and CEO.</p><p>Making it as a small business isn't easy, but this doughnut shop in Maine may have found the recipe for success. <a target="_blank" rel=" nofollow" class href="https://www.theholydonut.com/"><u>The Holy Donut</u></a> has been featured on television shows like "Man vs. Food" and gained a reputation for its unique potato doughnuts.</p><p>I visited the <a target="_blank" rel class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/best-donut-shops-us-2018-9"><u>doughnut shop</u></a>'s Park Avenue location in <a target="_blank" class href="https://www.businessinsider.com/blind-tiger-portland-maine-review-victorian-historic-hotel-2024-9">Portland</a>, the company's first shop, to see how its famous doughnuts are made.</p><p>"We could not be more fortunate, again, for the way this community has come around and kept this brand and run with it," The Holy Donut's co-owner and CEO, Jeff Buckwalter, told Business Insider. "When their friends, relatives, and family are vacationing here, we're one of the top two or three things to do in Maine."</p><p>Here's a look inside the operations of The Holy Donut and its plans for expansion.</p>